Popular "hyperlocal" news and information service Outside.in recently released an API (our Outside.in API Profile) that provides developers with a way to access up-to-the-minute, location-based news. Based on its “news around you” feature, Radar, the API provides access to various types of information, including the latest news stories, blog posts, Twitter tweets and more located within 1,000 feet of a specific location.

Brady Forrest over at O'Reilly Radar has a new post that highlights an unofficial release of preliminary API for Latitude, Google's geo-location sharing service. Although the API has not been formally identified by Google, the API can be seen in use in two new apps: the new Google Location Blog Badge and Google Talk Location Status.

Once you get beyond the most basic map mashups, you'll run into a problem with data storage and access, because you can't hard-code hundreds of markers. It's a problem that SimpleGeo wants to fix. And from the looks of their new platform, they've gone beyond expectations.